Photo by Brooke Thorington
Members of the Jewish community were stunned after House Criminal Justice voted against a bill to remove gassing as a form of execution in Louisiana. Jacquelyn Stern with Jews Against Gassing said it was as if the committee ignored their testimony altogether.
“There were people in our community who I believe did an excellent job of testifying and it felt to me like nobody was really a part of what we were trying to say and listening,” said Stern.
The bill passed in the Senate and Stern was hopeful House members would have also been allowed to hear the legislation but in a 22-16 vote the committee failed to advance the bill.
Committee testimony against the bill included John Sinquefield with the State Attorney General’s Office who said the use of nitrogen hypoxia is not comparable to the poisonous gas used during the Holocaust. Stern said he completely missed the point.
“There are other ways that they can execute people. This one in particular strikes a very delicate and angst anxiety-producing nerve for us as Jews,” said Stern.
During the crime session, Governor Jeff Landry championed adding different methods to carry out executions that included nitrogen hypoxia.
Stern said she and other members of Jews Against Gassing plan to continue to fight for their cause even though requests to meet with the governor have been ignored.
“And we never even got a response about that and that feels like the door was already shut, the decision was already made, a long time ago, without our testimony,” said Stern.
In addition to Louisiana, Alabama, Oklahoma, and Mississippi have approved the use of nitrogen hypoxia for executions.
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